2011 GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEES ANNOUNCED

Golden Globe Award

Nominees for the 68th annual Golden Globe Awards were announced earlier today and the Hollywood Foreign Press Assocation made some good choices and some odd ones too in honouring the best in both Television and Film.  The King's Speech led all others with a total seven nominations, while The Fighter and The Social Network followed behind closely with six each.

Nominees for Best Motion Picture, Drama include Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The King's Speech and The Social Network - all excellent and deserving choices.  The HFPA however, raised a few eyebrows for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy with choices like Alice in Wonderland 3-D, Burlesque, The Tourist and Red, showing signs that perhaps this category has outgrown its name? The clear-cut favourite here would be The Kids Are All Right, looking like a shoe-in for the win against these.

The match for Best Director is a competitive one with finalists which including Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), David Fincher (The Social Network), Tom Hooper (The King's Speech), Christopher Nolan (Inception) and David O. Russell (The Fighter) - all deserving of the win.

Best Dramatic Actor nominees include a strong field with with the likes of Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), James Franco (127 Hours), Ryan Gosling (Blue Valentine) and Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter). The same can also be said about the race for Best Dramatic Actress, which sees Halle Berry (Frankie and Alice) up against Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole), Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone), Natalie Portman (Black Swan) and Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine).

Interestingly, in the category of Best Actress, Comedy or Musical, Annette Bening and co-star Julianne Moore are being pitted against one another for The Kids Are All Right. Red hot Emma Stone is also up for the Award along with Angelina Jolie for The Tourist and Anne Hathaway for Love and Other Drugs. Despite being marketed as an Action-Thriller, The Tourist is being considered a Comedy for Awards consideration - perhaps a plea to have Jolie show up in a boost for ratings.

Best Supporting Actor also is a difficult category, v. evenly matched with Christian Bale (The Fighter) up against Michael Douglas (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), Andrew Garfield (The Social Network), Jeremy Renner (The Town) and Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech) - an immensely talented bunch.

In another juicy match, Best Supporting Actress sees Amy Adams (The Fighter) vying against  co-star Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Mila Kunis (Black Swan), Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech) and Australia's Jackie Weaver (Animal Kingdom).

Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy is full of deserving winners like 30 Rock, Big Bang Theory, The Big C, Glee, Modern Family and Nurse Jackie. Best Dramatic Television Series has Martin Scorcese-produced Boardwalk Empire competing with Dexter, The Good Wife, Mad Men and The Walking Dead.

As a side note, Glee has Actors nominated in all four categories for which it is eligible: Lea Michele (Best Actress, Television Series, Musical or Comedy), Matthew Morrison (Best Actor, Television Series, Musical or Comedy), Jane Lynch (Best Supporting Actress for Television) and Chris Colfer (Best Supporting Actor for Television).  AMC's Mad Men also nabbed three nominations with stars Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss each garnering nominations for Best Performance by an Actor and Actress in a Television Series - Drama.

The legendary Robert DeNiro will be receiving the annual Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award this year, marking another appearance for the veteran Actor who has been high profile of late with appearances on Saturday Night Live and also the upcoming Blockbuster Little Fockers.

The Golden Globe Awards will air Sunday, January 16, 2011 on NBC at 8:00 PM EST.

For a complete list of Nominees, click here.

(Photo credit: HFPA)